THE E&P FORUM

GUIDELINES FOR HSE AUDITING

IN THE GEOPHYSICAL INDUSTRY
Report No. 6.53/245
September 1996

E&P Forum
Guidelines for HSE Auditing in the Geophysical Industry
Report No. 6.53/245
September 1996
E&P Forum, 2528 Old Burlington Street, London W1X 1LB
Telephone: 44-(0)171-437 6291 Fax: 44-(0)171-434 3721
IAGC (International Association of Geophysical Contractors)
P.O. Box 460209, Houston, TX 77056 - 0209, USA
Telephone: 1-713 850 7981 Fax 1-713 850 7984
IAGC (EAME Secretariat), 4 St James Road, St Johns Hill,
Sevenoaks, Kent TN13 3NH, UK
Telephone: 44-(0)1732-743025 Fax: 44-(0)1732-740623

Authors

This report has been developed for E&P Forum in collaboration with
members of the IAGC by the Forums Safety Health and Personnel
Competence Committee (SHAPCC) through a specially convened Task
Force of the Seismic Safety Sub Committee.
Mr. I. G. Jack
Mr. D. Bliss
Mr. M. Covil
Mr. T. J. Dujmovich
Mr. H. Hansen
Mr. T. Jackson
Mr. G. Reynolds
Mr. J. Howell
Mr. J. L. Teurlai
Mr. R. C. Thonger

The E&P Forum

BP, Chairman
PGS
IAGC
Conoco
Geco Prakla
BP
Western Geophysical
Western Geophysical
Shell
G.S.R

The Oil Industry International Exploration and Production Forum (E&P

Forum) is the international association of oil companies and petroleum
industry organisations formed in 1974. It was established to represent its
members interests at the specialist agencies of the United Nations, governmental and other international bodies concerned with regulating the
exploration and production of oil and gas. While maintaining this activity, the
Forum now concerns itself with all aspects of E&P operations, with particular emphasis on safety of personnel and protection of the environment, and
seeks to establish industry positions with regard to such matters.
At present the Forum has 60 members worldwide, the majority being oil
and gas companies operating in 60 different countries, but with a number
of national oil industry associations/institutes.

IAGC

Disclaimer

The International Association of Geophysical Contractors (IAGC) is an

international trade association formed in 1971 which represents the interests of the independent geophysical service companies and integrated oil
companies that perform most of the geophysical operations world-wide.
Other members include geophysical equipment manufacturers, data processing centres, data brokerage firms, consultants and suppliers of products and services to the industry. At present, the IAGC has in excess of
225 members located throughout the world.

Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, neither the E&P Forum nor IAGC nor
any of their members will assume liability for any use made thereof.

GUIDELINES FOR HSE AUDITING IN THE

GEOPHYSICAL INDUSTRY

CONTENTS

BACKGROUND TO GEOPHYSICAL HSE AUDITS

EXPECTATIONS AND OBJECTIVES

RELEASE OF AUDIT REPORTS

SCOPE

Scope of audit

Target locations, facilities & functions

Audit content

AUDIT SCHEDULING AND FREQUENCY

ROLES, RESPONSIBILITIES AND COMPETENCIES

Commissioner of the audit

The Auditee

Lead Auditor

Auditors

Audit team competencies

AUDIT PROCESS

11

Pre-audit information and planning

11

Onsite activities

11

Post-audit activities

12

Audit reports
Follow-up and closure of actions

REFERENCE DOCUMENTS

12
12

13

The Board of Directors of the International Association of Geophysical

Contractors (IAGC) has carefully reviewed these guidelines and finds them
acceptable as guidelines for good industry practice. Individual member companies of the IAGC take this position in reliance on the understanding that
these guidelines will be generally used by the E&P Forum member companies in lieu of, and not in addition to, similar sets of guidelines, recognising,
however, that certain job specific or site specific modifications/additions may
be necessary in individual cases.

GUIDELINES FOR HSE AUDITING IN THE GEOPHYSICAL INDUSTRY

BACKGROUND TO GEOPHYSICAL
HSE AUDITS
Audits help to protect the interests and well-being of employees, customers, visitors and local communities.
Audits are a normal part of business control (see the E&P Forum
Guidelines for the Development and Application of Health, Safety and
Environmental Management Systems (HSE-MS), Report No. 6.36/210,
section 7). They provide assurance to management that the Health,
Safety and Environmental (HSE) risks of a particular operation are well
controlled and managed, and that the operation is being executed competently, in accordance with license conditions and relevant legislation.
They evaluate the effectiveness of the implementation of an HSE management system.
Current practice as to type, content, purpose and frequency of audits is
highly variable throughout the industry. There are statutory compliance
audits, management system audits, quality and safety audits, operational
(static and dynamic) audits, sub-contractor audits, etc. Typically, contractors perform a minimum of one internal audit per year on each major
operation. However, some contractors never conduct audits at all.
Likewise, some clients audit each operation, while others audit none.
There have been cases of vessels having been audited more than once
on one day, by different clients.
Audits are conducted against the HSE management systems of the auditee, and as required by regulatory bodies or as called for in E&P Forum
schedules/guidelines.
Currently, audit results or reports do not easily cross company boundaries.
In this document, the word client is taken to mean the oil company or
operator, thus retaining its common usage in the geophysical industry.
Audits are commissioned by clients, contractors and sub-contractors.

EXPECTATIONS AND OBJECTIVES

EXPECTATIONS AND OBJECTIVES

It is the expectation in producing this guideline that geophysical contractors will take over the activity of commissioning and conducting audits and
subsequent follow-up reports. These would then be made available to
clients upon request, and accepted by them, provided that they are carried
out in accordance with this guideline.

Expectations

In order to assure the quality of audits, it is expected that they will include
elements of assurance external to the operation being audited.
It is an expectation that an HSE-effective operation is a cost-effective operation, and that audits should help to encourage personnel to be more HSE
conscious, through a learning process.
The resources committed to the audit should be sufficient to meet its
intended scope.
Clients may wish to verify the contractors audit process, for example by
conducting an occasional audit themselves, as part of their own HSE management system.

This guideline has several purposes:

To help reduce the incidence of excessive client auditing especially of
seismic vessels and to create consistency across land and marine
geophysical operations.
To help ensure compliance with operational policies, procedures and
applicable regulations or guidelines on HSE and to analyse the
existence and effectiveness of management controls.
To provide guidance for the geophysical industry on how to implement
audits which are consistent with the E&P Forums existing Guidelines
for the Development and Application of HSE Management Systems.
To improve acceptability of audits across company boundaries.
To help verify that the operating systems that the contractor has in
place optimise the well-being of all personnel, clients, contractors, subcontractors, communities and the environment, and that these
systems are aligned across client, contractor and sub-contractor
boundaries.
To determine the compliance of an auditees HSE management
system against the audit criteria.
To determine whether the auditees HSE management system has
been properly implemented and maintained.
To identify areas of potential improvement in the auditees HSE
management system.
To assess the ability of the internal management review process to
assure the continuing suitability and effectiveness of the auditees HSE
management system.
To evaluate the contracting system.

Objectives

GUIDELINES FOR HSE AUDITING IN THE GEOPHYSICAL INDUSTRY

RELEASE OF AUDIT REPORTS

The ownership of an audit report is vested in the commissioner of the
audit. The copyright of the audit is normally vested with the Lead Auditor
or his employer. Upon consideration of the copyright, other arrangements
can be made.
Where audits are owned by clients, it is recommended that audit reports
relevant to an auditee (e.g. a land seismic crew or marine vessel) are
released to the auditee. Client owners may remove client-specific information prior to this release. This principle extends to the situation where
a contractor commissions an audit of a sub-contractor.
Clients should take due account of the available reports from previous
audits and their follow-ups which have been released to them, in order
to reduce their auditing requirements and to avoid unnecessary duplication of audits.

SCOPE

SCOPE
This HSE audit guideline is applicable to all geophysical operations worldwide. The scope of an audit will normally be determined by the commissioner of the audit in consultation with the Lead Auditor and the auditee,
taking into account the requirements of potential clients and the nature of
the operation. Any subsequent changes to the audit scope should be
agreed between the commissioner and the Lead Auditor. The scope and
any changes should be in writing.

Scope of audit

The scope should state the audit criteria, standards, rules, regulations and
work instructions or guidelines against which the audit findings will be
assessed.

The HSE management system (thus main sites)

Land operations
Marine and shallow-water operations
Site survey operations
Support facilities
Sub-contractors.

Target locations, facilities and functions

Note that some operations will have peripheral units in different environments (e.g. a marine operation may have navigation base stations).

The content should be consistent with (but not necessarily limited to) the
E&P Forums existing Guidelines for the Development and Application of
HSE Management Systems. The executive summary from this document
is shown below.
HSE-MS Element

Audit content

Addressing

Leadership and
commitment

Top-down commitment and company culture,

essential to the success of the system.

Policy and
strategic
objectives

Corporate intentions, principles of action and

aspirations with respect to health, safety and
environment.

Organisation,
resources and
documentation

Organisation of people, resources and

documentation for sound HSE performance.

Evaluation and
risk management

Identification and evaluation of HSE risks, for

activities, products and services, and
development of risk reduction measures.

Planning

Planning the conduct of work activities, including

planning for changes and emergency response.

Implementation
and monitoring

Performance and monitoring of activities, and how

corrective action is to be taken when necessary.

Auditing and
reviewing

Periodic assessments of system performance,

effectiveness and fundamental suitability.

GUIDELINES FOR HSE AUDITING IN THE GEOPHYSICAL INDUSTRY

Thus a suggested list of topics to be covered by audits, and their applicability to management and/or operations, includes the following:

Content

Management

Operations

Management/leadership commitment

Policy and strategic objectives

HSE objectives and performance

criteria

Organisational structure and

responsibilities

Management performance standards

Auditing and reviewing

Risk evaluation and management

Planning

Implementation and monitoring of

HSE-MS

Management of change

Resource allocation

Identification and recording of hazards

and effects

Evaluation of hazards and

environmental effects

Risk reduction measures

Fire detection and control

Hazardous material transport, storage

and handling

Preventive maintenance programmes

Investigation requirements and

procedures

Offsite risk assessment

Contingency & emergency planning

Asset integrity

Procedures and work instructions

Implementation of HSE-MS activities

Recording of the HSE-MS

Non-compliance and corrective action

Auditing and formal inspections

Work rules and practices

Personal protective equipment

Incident reporting

Incident follow-up

Organisation and Management

Risks and Hazards

Operations

SCOPE

Content

Management

Operations

Metrics, statistics

Signs and information

Work environment and housekeeping

Occupational health and life

preservation

Engineering
Regulatory compliance

Substance abuse

Aviation

Waste disposal and pollution control

Spill/leak control/damage restoration

Data management

Documentation and its control

Food and water storage and

preparation

Clients/contractors/sub-contractor
interfaces

HSE meetings with employees

HSE publicity

Public consultation

Training programmes

Communication

Competence

Personnel, training,
communications

GUIDELINES FOR HSE AUDITING IN THE GEOPHYSICAL INDUSTRY

AUDIT SCHEDULING AND

FREQUENCY
There are no definitive or prescriptive frequencies for audits laid down in
this guideline. However, commissioners of audits should be able to justify
the frequency of their audits.
Factors to be considered in deciding upon scheduling of audits include:
avoidance of duplication or excessive audit, especially on vessels
significant changes occurring within an operation, e.g. the start itself
the requirements of legal or regulatory bodies
type, size, complexity and region of operation
HSE performance of the operation
severity of risks and potential environmental effects of the operation
company and contractor policies
availability of information on prior audits and their follow-up.

ROLES, RESPONSIBILITIES AND

COMPETENCIES
Commissioner of the Audit

The Auditee

Responsible for:
setting and implementing the audit strategy
defining the scope of the audit
defining its terms of reference including audit criteria
providing the necessary resources
assuring the competence of the Lead Auditor
defining a system for classification of audit findings
ensuring that the follow-up process is completed satisfactorily by
assisting the auditee where necessary.

Responsible for:
cooperating with the auditors to permit the audit objectives to be
achieved
informing employees about the objectives and scope of the audit as
necessary
providing the facilities needed for the audit team in order to ensure an
effective and efficient audit process
appointing responsible and competent staff to accompany members
of the audit team, to act as guides to the site and to ensure that
auditors are aware of health, safety, environment, and other
appropriate requirements
providing access to the audited facilities including personnel and
relevant evidential material, as requested by the auditors, and
assisting them generally
developing a corrective action plan that defines action steps and
responsibilities for all those findings listed in the final audit report, that
are accepted by the auditee; the timeliness and completion of
corrective actions from previous audits should be reviewed during
subsequent location reviews.

ROLES, RESPONSIBILITIES AND COMPETENCIES

The Lead Auditor is responsible for ensuring the efficient and effective
conduct and completion of the audit within the scope of the audit plan.

Lead Auditor

He or she should be independent of the specific facility being audited, but

may be an employee of the parent company.
In addition, the Lead Auditors responsibilities and activities should cover:
consulting with the commissioner and auditee in finalising the scope,
terms of reference and applicable standards of the audit
obtaining relevant background information necessary to meet the
objectives of the audit
forming the audit team after having given consideration to
representations of the auditee and other appropriate parties
preparing the audit plan
communicating the final audit plan to the audit team, auditee and the
commissioner
co-ordinating the preparation of working documents and detailed
procedures and briefing the audit team
directing the activities of the audit team
seeking to resolve any problems that arise during the audit
recognising when audit objectives appear to become unattainable and
reporting the reasons to the commissioner and the auditee
representing the audit team in discussions with the auditee prior to,
during and after the audit
notifying to the auditee of observations of critical non-conformities
without delay
reporting on the audit clearly and conclusively within the time agreed
with the commissioner
making clear and concise recommendations to the auditee for
corrective actions, ensuring that these represent the fair opinion of
the team
maintaining the independence and objectivity of the team and the
audit report
providing language translation facilities, if necessary.

The audtitors are responsible for:

following the directions of and supporting the Lead Auditor
planning and carrying out the assigned task objectively, effectively and
efficiently within the scope of the audit
collecting and analysing relevant and sufficient evidence to allow
findings to be made and conclusions to be drawn regarding the
auditees system
preparing working documents under the direction of the Lead Auditor
documenting individual audit findings
safeguarding documents pertaining to the audit and returning such
documents as required
assisting in writing the audit report.

The Lead Auditor should have sufficient seniority and relevant experience
to provide credibility and authoritative weight to the audit findings and recommendations. He or she should be trained and have experience in carrying out HSE audits. Such training may be provided by the auditors own
organisation, or by an external organisation.

Auditors

Audit team competencies

The audit team should possess an appropriate combination of knowledge,

skills, personal qualities and experience to carry out audit responsibilities.

GUIDELINES FOR HSE AUDITING IN THE GEOPHYSICAL INDUSTRY

To ensure the objectivity of the audit process and its findings or conclusion, the lead auditor should be independent of the activities to be
audited. The audit team should be objective and free from bias and conflict of interest throughout the process, although the team may include
representative(s) from the activity being audited.
The use of an external or internal Lead Auditor is at the discretion of the
commissioner. A lead auditor chosen from within the organisation should
not be accountable to those directly responsible for the subject matter
being audited.
The team should collectively:
understand the purpose of audits
know the policies and principles being audited
understand the output of audit and expectations
possess a generic understanding of the facility or operation being
audited.
Thus, in selecting the audit team members, consideration should be given
to the following:
the number of auditors in the team
appropriate qualifications, experience and expertise
the type of organisation, activity or function being audited
the language skills of the auditors, and/or the availability of suitable
interpreters for the full amount of time required
any potential conflict of interest between the auditee and the auditors
competence in clearly and fluently expressing concepts and ideas,
orally and in writing
interpersonal skills conducive to the effective and efficient
performance of the audit, such as diplomacy, tact and the ability to
listen
skills of personal organisation necessary for the effective and efficient
performance of the audit
ability to analyse data and categorise results
ability to reach sound judgements based on objective evidence.

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AUDIT PROCESS

AUDIT PROCESS
To conduct audits efficiently, certain information must be obtained and
reviewed by the auditors prior to the audit, or made readily available for
review during the audit. Typical information includes:
organisation charts
contractual documents
HSE staffingtheir qualifications and responsibilities
current list of hazardous materials
maps of the survey area, as appropriate
copies of HSE policies and procedures
regulatory permits, licenses and compliance inspection reports
previous inspection/audit reports
follow-up documentation to the above
incident reports and follow-up
training record and status
relevant local regulations relating to geophysical activities
environmental impact assessment
hazard register

Pre-audit information and planning

In addition, an audit announcement letter, with clear scope and objectives,

should be sent to the location well in advance.
A pre-planning meeting may be necessary.

Each audit should commence with an opening meeting with location management, location HSE staff and the audit team to:
reaffirm the scope and objectives
reaffirm the agenda and audit plans
obtain information on special topics to include or sensitive areas of
which to be aware
reaffirm the schedule for the closing meeting.

Onsite activities

The audit will be directed by the Lead Auditor, and will focus on management systems and compliance. Typical audit activities include:
location walk-through; inspection of equipment and activities covered
by the scope of the audit
document/records review
reviewing location HSE performance statistics (injuries, illnesses,
incidents, etc.)
reviewing the locations HSE inspection and auditing programme
reviewing the environmental impact assessment
reviewing policies, procedures and required records
interviewing management, quality control and technical staff
interviewing HSE staff and area personnel
assessing implementation of training plans
documenting and categorising findings each day
analysing findings and preparing list of key findings and
recommendations or draft report for use at the final meeting.
Each audit should end with a closing meeting involving the audit team,
location management and location HSE staff to:
review the audit findings and recommendations
confirm, following consultation with the commissioner, a schedule and
distribution for the audit report and location response to findings and
recommendations.

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GUIDELINES FOR HSE AUDITING IN THE GEOPHYSICAL INDUSTRY

Post-audit activities

Audit reports
The Lead Auditor is responsible for timely completion and issuance of the
audit reports to the commissioner, who is responsible for its distribution
to the appropriate people. Typical report contents include:
introductionlocation, business, dates, audit leader, team members

and their titles, scope and objectives of the audit

executive summary
general observations
positive findings
deficiencies
reference to regulations, policies, guides, etc.
recommended actions.

Follow-up and closure of action

Corrective action plans and status reports are the responsibility of the
auditee until all action items are closed out. The progress of the actions
and reports will normally be followed up by the commissioner.

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REFERENCE DOCUMENTS

REFERENCE DOCUMENTS
IAGC. Land Geophysical Operations Safety Manual, 1991
IAGC. Marine Geophysical Operations Safety Manual, 1991
IAGC. Environmental Guidelines for World-wide Geophysical Operations,
1994
E&P Forum/IUCN. Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Operations in
Mangrove AreasGuidelines for Environmental Protection, Report
No. 2.54/184, 1993
E&P Forum/IUCN. Oil and Gas Exploration and Production in Arctic and
Subarctic Onshore RegionsGuidelines for Environmental Protection,
Report No. 2.55/185, 1993
E&P Forum. Oil Industry Operating Guideline for Tropical Rainforests,
Report No. 2.49/170, 1991
E&P Forum. Exploration & Production Waste Management Guidelines,
Report No. 2.58/196, 1993
E&P Forum. Health Management Guidelines for Remote Land-Based
Geophysical Operations, Report No. 6.30/190, 1993
E&P Forum. Standards for Local Medical Support, Report No. 6.44/222,
1995
E&P Forum. Health Assessment of Fitness, Report No. 6.46/228, 1995
E&P Forum. Health, Safety and Environmental Schedules for Marine
Geophysical Operations, Report No. 6.34/206, 1994
E&P Forum. Health, Safety and Environmental Schedules for Land
Geophysical Operations, Report No. 6.35/207, 1995
E&P Forum. HSE Training Guidelines for Seismic Personnel, Report No.
6.27/183, 1993
E&P Forum. Checklist for an Audit of Safety Management. Report No.
6.15/160, 1989
E&P Forum. Safety Auditing: Strategy and Uses for the E&P Industry,
Report No. 6.13/149, 1989
E&P Forum. Guidelines for the Development and Application of Health,
Safety and Environmental Management Systems, Report No. 6.36/210,
1994
IAGC/E&P Forum. Generic Hazards Register for Geophysical Operations.
Report No. 6.40/214, 1994 (revised January 1996)
Individual company and contractor manuals.
IAGC/E&P Forum. Glossary of HSE Terms, Report No. 6.52/244, 1996

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